I cannot answer the question about Mac, but Linux often boosts computers. As weaker the hardware as bigger the gain. There are a lot of people that were going to put their hardware on trash, but Linux spend it new lifetime. Trying costs nothing.

If you mean for running Linux - I wouldn't bother. The reverse engineering work people are doing to run Linux on them in fantastic, but it's still a catch up game. Why would you want that? Get a normal laptop like Lenovo Thinkpad if you want to run Linux.

I never understood the appeal of Apple hardware personally.

Last edited by Shmerl on 19 May 2026 at 2:36 am UTC

Getting a new computer doesn't preclude you installing Linux on the old (newly vacant) laptop. I see no better opportunity to install and learn Linux than on such an occasion.

Quoting: GustyGhostGetting a new computer doesn't preclude you installing Linux on the old (newly vacant) laptop. I see no better opportunity to install and learn Linux than on such an occasion.

It does on Mac Hardware. Linux only supports at the most up to M2 processors. Anything above, the support isn't there. M3 is kind of working but the GPU driver isn't there according to a Google search.

Last edited by reaply on 20 May 2026 at 5:16 pm UTC

Quoting: reaply

Quoting: GustyGhostGetting a new computer doesn't preclude you installing Linux on the old (newly vacant) laptop. I see no better opportunity to install and learn Linux than on such an occasion.

It does on Mac Hardware. Linux only supports at the most up to M2 processors. Anything above, the support isn't there. M3 is kind of working but the GPU driver isn't there according to a Google search.

GustyGhost is saying that if RubyRose decides to buy an M-whatever Mac ("a new computer"), that doesn't preclude installing GNU/Linux on the weak laptop with a Celeron processor and running Windows 10 ("the old (newly vacant) laptop").

Quoting: RubyRose136I'm planning to get a Mac computer soon (a Mac Mini specifically), are they stable (in terms of system stability) and good (usable)?

Yes, they are stable.
Yes, they are good and usable.

I used Macs for many years before moving to Linux. The question is what will be the purpose of the Mac?

While there are games compatible with macOS, it's limited. Yes, there are ways to play Windows games on Mac. However, it's not as smooth as it is with Linux.

macOS is also locked down. You basically use the computer the way Apple decides you should use it.

You also didn't specify whether you were going to put Linux on the Mac or keep macOS. Macs are good computers and I personally still use a 2011 iMac (with Fedora installed).

If you're not ready for Linux and want to get far away from Windows, a Mac could serve you well. At the same time, there is nothing preventing you from installing Linux on your old laptop.

I funnily have an intel mac (MacBook Air, Early 2015) running linux and it is more than usable. I am shocked by the amount of tabs I can open on 8 gigabytes of RAM with only in-RAM compression (ZRAM), usually around 70 tabs fully loaded before the system starts to slow down. The only thing unusable with a web browser is Whatsapp Web, it takes like 1 minute to load and if I keep it running so I don't wait for it to load, it destroys my battery. Waydroid and android build of whatsapp is miles more efficient lmao.
If your laptop is unusably slow, it might have a hard disk drive. Changing it with an SSD will massively speed it up. Or it might have a 3rd party antivirus which slows the system down. I did an SSD swap on a laptop with 4th gen dual core i3 and did a clean install of Windows 10, the difference was night and day.

Oh and macs are stable. But not worth spending 800 USD (the current baseline) just to browse the internet in my opinion.

Quoting: Mustache Gamer

Quoting: RubyRose136I'm planning to get a Mac computer soon (a Mac Mini specifically), are they stable (in terms of system stability) and good (usable)?

Yes, they are stable.
Yes, they are good and usable.

I used Macs for many years before moving to Linux. The question is what will be the purpose of the Mac?

While there are games compatible with macOS, it's limited. Yes, there are ways to play Windows games on Mac. However, it's not as smooth as it is with Linux.

macOS is also locked down. You basically use the computer the way Apple decides you should use it.

You also didn't specify whether you were going to put Linux on the Mac or keep macOS. Macs are good computers and I personally still use a 2011 iMac (with Fedora installed).

If you're not ready for Linux and want to get far away from Windows, a Mac could serve you well. At the same time, there is nothing preventing you from installing Linux on your old laptop.

I'm planning to keep macOS in it. Regarding gaming I'm not going to play games on it a lot. The only game I managed to run on my current laptop (with a Celeron processor) is Minecraft (Java Edition), and even so, it runs very poorly (It lags a lot, but I can get around 40 FPS with 8 chunks render distance in full screen (1366x768 resolution) before dropping to 5-10 FPS during certain periods and in forests. I tested versions 1.9.4, 1.12.1 and 1.21.5).

Quoting: mr-victoryIf your laptop is unusably slow, it might have a hard disk drive. Changing it with an SSD will massively speed it up. Or it might have a 3rd party antivirus which slows the system down. I did an SSD swap on a laptop with 4th gen dual core i3 and did a clean install of Windows 10, the difference was night and day.

I concur with these suggestions. Both will go a long way in improving the performance of your old laptop. I've done it myself.

The 2.5" SSD usually includes software that will copy all the HDD partitions to the new SSD. You might need a USB drive enclosure or some sort of USB interface cable though.

You don't have to go all in with Linux. Set it up in a dual boot with Windows 10 while you get to know whatever distro of Linux you choose to install.

Quoting: Mustache Gamer

Quoting: RubyRose136I'm planning to get a Mac computer soon (a Mac Mini specifically), are they stable (in terms of system stability) and good (usable)?

Yes, they are stable.
Yes, they are good and usable.

I used Macs for many years before moving to Linux. The question is what will be the purpose of the Mac?

While there are games compatible with macOS, it's limited. Yes, there are ways to play Windows games on Mac. However, it's not as smooth as it is with Linux.

macOS is also locked down. You basically use the computer the way Apple decides you should use it.

You also didn't specify whether you were going to put Linux on the Mac or keep macOS. Macs are good computers and I personally still use a 2011 iMac (with Fedora installed).

If you're not ready for Linux and want to get far away from Windows, a Mac could serve you well. At the same time, there is nothing preventing you from installing Linux on your old laptop.

Mastache has it right!

I use a mac laptop constantly for work and it's AWESOME for that specific purpose and nothing else. I would never in a million years though purchase one for myself for personal reasons. Or even work reasons. I only have this because my job is willing to pay the enormous $2500 cost. If it were just me freelancing I'd get a framework laptop and put cachy on it. But to answer your questions: yes macs are capable, stable, fast, long battery, etc. But expensive.